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Chris Mooney Quotes (1977-)
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About Chris Mooney
Christopher Cole Mooney (born September 20, 1977) is an American journalist and author of four books including The Republican War on Science (2005).
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βThey didnβt even understand the science they presumed to criticize.β
βAnd then thereβs religion, the source of the deepest fissure in the science-society relationship.β
βMedia coverage tends to be episodic and event-driven, always in search of the dramatic and the new.β
βFor a very long time, American scientists have found themselves pitted against both our businesslike, can-do attitudes and our piety.β
βAt the same time (i. e., 1994), the Republican party continued to define itself in adulation of Reagan and in opposition to mainstream science.β
βToday this country is also home to a populace that, to an alarming extent, ignores scientific advances or outright rejects scientific principles.β
βPolicymaking by ideology requires that reality be set aside; it can be maintained only by moving towards ever more authoritarian forms of governance.β
βBut it is only half the story. If powerful religious commitments lead to politically driven abuses of science, so does an unswerving commitment to the bottom line.β
βBut when they donβt like what science has to tell them, those wielding political power of the have another option besides running away from the truth: suppression.β
βThe scientific case for rejecting such bad science (or non-science) is indisputable. But that doesnβt make it persuasive to creationists or other religiously motivated evolution skeptics.β
βThe emergence of the religious right onto the political stage in the 1970sβmotivated in part by its adherentsβ resentment of the nationβs intellectual and scientific elitesβwas also a major factor in curtailing the role of science in public policy.β
ββHealthy skepticism is an essential and treasured feature of scientific analysis,β Gibbons added. βBut willful distortion of evidence has no place at the table of scientific inquiry.ββ
βSuch flagrant misrepresentation goes far beyond mere dishonesty. It demonstrates a gross disregard for the welfare of the American public, whom Bush represents, and for the population of the entire globe, whose fate depends in large measure on the behavior of the American behemoth.β
ββYou canβt prove whatβs going to happen in the future,β explains Naomi Oreskes, who has written extensively on the uses of modeling. βBut that doesnβt mean you donβt have a rational basis for action.ββ
βTo be sure, the intelligent design movement does not claim an animus against science. Science abusers never do. Rather, the movement seeks to redefine the very nature of science to serve its objectives.β
βJournalists should treat fringe scientific claims with considerable skepticism and find out what major peer-reviewed papers or assessments have to say about them. Moreover, they should adhere to the principle that the more outlandish or dramatic the claim, the more skepticism it warrants.β
βA change in administration doesnβt automatically fix the underlying problems, which include the corporate mediaβs marginalizing of science, ongoing divides over science and religion, and an American culture that all too often questions the value of intellect and even glorifies dumbness.β
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Chris Mooney on James Inhofe 2 quotes
βAs a science abuser, Inhofe may be out of control, but he is not at all out of the Republican mainstream.β
Chris Mooney on Ronald Reagan
βAs perhaps the chief public face of American science during this period, Carl Sagan wasnβt merely a popularizer but a fierce advocate for the proper use of science in the real world. During the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan necessarily became his chief foe, for Reagan brought anti-science into the American political mainstream as never before.β
About Chris Mooney
Christopher Cole Mooney (born September 20, 1977) is an American journalist and author of four books including The Republican War on Science (2005).
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